November 28

In 2008, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University attempted to explain why the poor are more likely to buy lottery tickets. The study, published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, theorized that people focus on the cost-to-benefit ratio of a single ticket rather than add up the long-term cost of playing over a year, or a lifetime.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/15/health/psychology-playing-lottery-powerball/index.html

November 27

While researchers haven't specifically focused on the effects of both activities, other forms of multitasking offer clues as to possible detriments. For example, in studying how cellphone conversations impact drivers, Marcel Just, a psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University, found that as soon as someone starts listening to a voice on the phone, their skills behind the wheel stall. "The brain activity that was there for driving decreases by as much as 37%, says Dr. Just.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323353204578129202490992958.html?KEYWORDS=%22Carnegie+Mellon%22

November 27

The steel industry owes its fractured nature, in part, to its historic role as an economic engine. "No nation has ever industrialized without developing its own steel industry," said David Hounshell, a professor of industrial history at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Each region had its own mill to supply local industries. Once built, they become a source of jobs, which were protected with tariffs and subsidies. "The end result is always a lot of overcapacity," Mr. Hounshell said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324595904578116761144046732.html?KEYWORDS=%22Carnegie+Mellon%22

November 25

"You get unforeseen consequences" when pursuing unorthodox policies, said Allan Meltzer, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business in Pittsburgh and author of a two-volume history of the Fed.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-11-25/overnight-rates-surge-in-fed-s-operation-twist

November 23

Scientists from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have presented a paper demonstrating how such so-called 'activity forecasting' would work. Their study, funded by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, focuses on the 'automatic detection of anomalous and threatening behaviour' by simulating the ways humans filter and generalise information from the senses.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2237302/Minority-Report-reality-New-software-predicts-laws-broken.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

November 23

“The first line of my obituary is going to mention the smiley face,” says Scott Fahlman, who would rather be remembered for his research into artificial intelligence. But like it or not, Fahlman has become famous for three keystrokes. In 1982, as a young professor at Carnegie Mellon University, he realized the need for a symbol to temper the bickering that plagued online forums.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/magazine/who-made-that-emoticon.html

November 21

Such "hiccups" in opium production may not necessarily impact markets because Afghans sometimes keep inventories to cover weak years, said Jonathan P. Caulkins, a public policy professor at Carnegie Mellon University. There is no good data on how big those inventories are, he said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-afghanistan-opium-poppies-20121120,0,266740.story

November 21

Carnegie Mellon doctors gave 83 college freshmen an influenza vaccine and found that those with larger social networks produced more flu-fighting antibodies than those who hung out in smaller groups. Students who reported feeling lonely produced fewer antibodies, as well.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFlu/top-tips-preventing-colds/story?id=17771247

November 20

My most astonishing discovery came at Carnegie Mellon University, where Marcel Just and Tom Mitchell have been using real-time functional MRI scanners to do some actual mind reading—or thought recognition, as they more responsibly call it.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-far-away-mind-machine-integration

November 20

The actual cavern exploration would require technological advances as well. Cave rovers would have to be far more autonomous than their surface brethren, for example, since overlying rock would decrease the ability to communicate with Earth, said roboticist Red Whittaker, of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/49909343/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.UKzRO4UbBqM

November 15

This episode features two CMU research projects. Dietrich College faculty member Marcel Just and SCS faculty member Tom Mitchell discuss their thought identification research while New York Times technology columnist David Pogue visits CMU's Scientific Imaging and Brain Research Center. In addition, SCS faculty member Adrien Treuille discusses EteRNA, a research project that uses online game play to explore RNA design. Treuille leads the project with Stanford University faculty member Rhiju Das and SCS doctoral student and Jeehyung Lee.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2303503361

November 13

Kathryn Thomas, an IT grad student at Carnegie Mellon University, agreed. "It's empowering to see a bunch of women collectively working on the same thing. Our classes really are dominated by guys. It's a good feeling to be around people that are like you and have shared interests," she said.

http://www.wired.com/business/2012/11/women-developers-and-athletes-take-the-leading-role-at-espnw-hack-day/ 

November 12

"When people are considering a high-deductible plan, I always say, 'Could you come up with the whole deductible all at one time?'" says Amelia Haviland, an associate professor of statistics and health policy at Carnegie Mellon University who has published studies on the effect of high-deductible health plans on health-care spending. "If it's going to keep you from going to the emergency department when you really need to go, don't choose that plan."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/michelle-andrews-weighs-the-benefits-of-high-deductible-health-plans/2012/11/12/12b9af54-6a2e-11e1-acc6-32fefc7ccd67_story.html

November 12

Consumer robots increasingly are becoming part of the American home, and may be fixtures within several years, says Manuela Veloso, an artificial intelligence and robotics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, a leading researcher in both fields. As consumers become more comfortable with robots, they "will be accepted in everyday life," she says.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2012/11/12/robots-irobot-romotive-bossa-nova/1695383/ 

November 10

Computers soon should be able to tell health officials where the next food poisoning outbreak will spread, a U.S. government lab predicts.
Tom Mitchell, head of the Machine Learning Department at Carnegie Mellon University, called computer model predictions based on historical evidence "one of more positive trends we're going to see this century. ... We're just beginning."

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/predicting-presidents-storms-life-computer-17688234#.UKJp1YVt1T9

November 8

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University say a water quality problem in the Monongahela River that may have been linked to Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling is going away. Jeanne VanBriesen said Thursday that preliminary data from tests this year showed that levels of salty bromides in the river have declined significantly when compared to 2010 and 2011. In many cases the bromides were at undetectable levels this year, and in general they returned to normal levels.

http://online.wsj.com/article/AP9464bbacf4124a549596ffe4d7200b49.html?KEYWORDS=%22Carnegie+Mellon%22

November 1

The flooding brought by Sandy will inevitably bring calls for more flood-protection systems. David Dzombak, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, chaired a committee for the National Research Council that evaluated the state of flood management systems in the U.S. He says it's not enough to just build new levees and floodgates to protect communities. "Once you build this hard infrastructure, there has to be a commitment, and hopefully now a commitment upfront, of putting dollars aside to maintaining it forever," he says.

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/01/164101955/in-flooded-new-jersey-no-oversight-for-levees